Day 1: South West Iceland

Me and Dan arrived in Iceland at lunch time and wanted to make the most of the first day! Our accomodation for the first night was in Reykjavik and we had pre-booked the Blue Lagoon for the evening, so we planned our day around this. We picked up our hire car and headed straight for the Reykjanes Peninsula. Our firt planned stop was the bridge between the continents at Sandvík, but the beautiful Hvalsneskirkja church caught our eye so we pulled over for a closer look.

We then proceeded to to the bridge which was surrounded by Reykjanes lava field and a view of the coast. It was pretty cool being able to cross between Europe and North America and stand in the fissure between them.

A little further down the coast is Reykjanes Lighthouse. Definitely worth a visit to gawp at the amazing views, and go for a short walk to the ocean to hear the crashing sounds of the huge waves against the rocks.

Five minutes further along is Gunnuhver Geothermal Area. This was one of my favourite stops of the entire trip! There was so much colour, from orange soil, to blue glacial water and white steam oozing from the ground. On top of that, we could get so close to the Geysir and it wasn’t touristy like a lot of the other sights.

From here, we started our journey North towards Reykjavik but took a route which would take us to Kleifarvatn Lake. The scenery here was amazing! We literally parked up and stood in awe of our surroundings. The views were spectacular, especially surrounded by the snowy mountains. This route towards Reykjavik was also a benefit as it gave us practice for driving on the snow and ice.

After this stop, we headed to our accomodation to drop off our luggage then left for the Blue Lagoon. Our expectations for the lagoon were pretty low after hearing that it can be overcrouded, however we had a lovely time there. To make the most of our time, we booked an evening session so we could experience the lagoon during the day and night, and experience. I would defintely reccomend this!

Day 2: The Golden Circle

An early start was the perfect way to do the golden circle as we managed to avoid the major crowds. Our first stop was the viewpoint at Þingvellir National Park where we got a spectacular view of the park and a went on a short walk between the continental plates. It would have been nice to spend a day at the park to explore further, but we were on a tight schedule.

Our second stop was Gullfoss waterfall, this really was breathtaking! A quick walk down to the falls makes it possible to get close enough to experience this impressive body of water.

After this, we travelled to the geothermal area in Haukadalur, which contains the geysers Geysir and Strokkur. We actually spent quite a bit of time here exploring the area and learning about the geysers. We were amazed at the size of Strokkur’s erruption!

Our final stop of the day was Kerid Crater. This was a good end to the day as it broke up the journey, gave us a chance to learn about the craters in Iceland and wasn’t crammed with toursits.†

We spent the night in Hvolsvöllur.

Day 3: Hvolsvöllur to Hof

This was a day chasing waterfalls! First stop of the day was Seljalandsfoss, a beautiful waterfall surrounded by stunning scenery. A walk behind the waterfall make this experience even more memorable as you can feel its force of nature.

Our next stop was Skógafoss, definitely one of the best waterfalls we visited. It was enormous! We walked to the top to get a birds-eye view before braving the icy spray and walking right up close to the drop.

After getting drenched, a cup of hot cocoa was on the cards so a stop at Vik on our journey worked out well. Unfortunately it was raining, so we didn’t get to see much of this fishing village, but it definitely had a lot of potential for a dry day. After drying off and warming up, we were ready to hit the road again and began our journey to Svartifoss. We came accross a few stop off points along the way, with my favourite being Stjórnarfoss waterfall, it was tranquil, empty of tourists and beautiful!

Our final stop of the day was Svartifoss waterfall, but we had spent too long at Stjórnarfoss so didn’t get to see it before the sunset. A reason to go back! We spent the night in Hof.

Day 4: Hof to Egilsstaðir

My absolute favourite day of the trip was this day, we saw so much beauty; from ice caves to coastal lines.

We left Hof early and headed straight to Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon for a hike on the glacier and an ice caving experience. As we arrived, we couldn’t help ourselves but to head straight to Diamond Beach, it was amazing! We were so lucky, the sun came out just as we arrived so the ice bergs were shimmering on the black sand.

It was then time for our glacial experience. We gathered our gear; helmets, headtorches and clampons before clambering onto the 4×4 superjeep to begin our journey onto the glacier. We started with a hike across the glacier and had amazing views of diamond beach. We also learnt a lot taught about the glacier itself from its origin to dangers. It was fascinating and eye opening!

We then began the ice caving! There are no words to describe how amazing it was. The ice was so blue and the cave was pretty large, an experiene I would reccomend to anyone visiting Iceland during the winter season!

After the glacial experience, we were definitely feeling the Icelandic vibes, so what better time to try the famous hot dogs?! As someone who doesn’t usually opt for hot dogs, these were something else. Suuuuper tasty! With full bellies, we were eager to walk up the estuary to watch the ice burgs float down to diamond beach.

After spending the morning at the glacier, it was time to move on and head towards Egilsstaðir. We hadn’t planned any stops for this part of the journey, but came accross plenty of reasons to. We were in awe of the beauty in this part of the country, definitely my favourite part. It really helped make a long journey feel so short!

Our accomodation at Egilsstaðir was a cosy cabin surrounded by snowy mountains and fields of horses. It was bliss! And to top off the most amazing day, the northern lights made an appearance, just magical.

Day 5: Egilsstaðir to Myvatn

A relaxed morning meant we could have a lie in and catch up on some much needed sleep. We cooked ourselves a tasty breakfast then went to meet some Icelandic horses, which were right outside our front door. An opportunity I had waited all trip for!

We then opted for a hike up the mountain to visit Fardagafoss waterfall. It was pretty challenging in all the snow, but we made it in one piece and it was a pretty spectacular sight.

We were then ready to head off and start our journey to Myvatn. It was a long drive, but the scenery was amazing! We drove for miles without seeing a single car, just surrounded by snow and mountains.

We eventually reached the outskirts of Myvatn and stopped off at Námafjall mud pots. This was definitely the coldest and windiest day of the trip so the heat from the pots were definitely welcomed, the eggy smell not so much.

We planned on visiting Dettifoss and Selfoss next, but the snowy weather interrupted these plans and we had to abort mission. This led us to Myvatn Lake which we decided to drive around to see what we could find. Our first stop was a cave made famous by the Game of Thrones series as they filmed a well known scene there. We then proceeded to Höfði for an hours walk around the park. The scenery there was pretty with different terrain and views throughout.

Next stop was Viti Crater, but after a hour out in the cold weather we decided a hike up there wasn’t going to be fun. So we viewed it from the bottom and proceeded to Skútustaðagígar for some breathtaking views from the top of some smaller craters.

After freezing to the bone, we decided an evening at Myvatn nature baths would be the perfect end to the day. Definitely a good decision, we warmed up and completely relaxed in a tranquil location.

Day 6: Myvatn to Akureyri

We decided that we had seen everything we wanted in Myvatn, so left early towards Akureyri. With time to spare, we decided to head off track and visit a quaint fishing village; Húsavík. What a beautiful place! Built on the coast yet surrounded by mountains, it felt surreal. We went for a wander to the marina where there were boat trips for whale watching which would be perfect at the right time of year.

We then went for a drive a little further down the coast to find a tiny pebbled beach where we sat for a bit and had some snacks, breathing in the ocean air. It was a lovely little stop.

Our next stop was at the spectacular Godafoss waterfall, its was breathtaking! You could hear its roar from the view point and it’s setting was just perfect.

We then drove the final stretch of the journey to Akureyri Town. I was eager to visit the Christmas House at Akureyri so we stopped off on the way to our accomodation. It was a pretty cool place to visit, and we bought some salt taffy for those Christmas vibes.

We spent the evening exploring the town centre which had some lovely shops to browse and settled down for some pub grub and a cold beer. We ended the night with some local ice-cream which was delicious!

Day 7: Akureyri

Our plan for day 7 was to drive to Reykjavik and spend our final 2 days exploring the city. However, overnight a huge storm resulted in closed roads and tretterous driving conditions. With lack of experience driving in snow and ice, we decided it safer to stay put in Akureyri until the storm passed.

With our current accommodation not quite suitable to be stuck inside for hours and our morale low, it was time to up the anti! So, I decided to find accommodation where we could relax and still have a fun day. This resulted in us finding a lodge which had an outside hot tub! We got some food and snacks, chose some films and spent the day relaxing after a busy week. It was lush! We even braved the hot tub during the storm, an experience I won’t forget soon, it was freezing!

After the weather calmed down, we could spend the evening actually enjoying the hot tub and cooked ourselves a delicious meal. This definitely made up for the ruined travel plans.

Day 8: Akureyri to Reykjavik

As our flight this evening, we had to drive to Reykjavik and brave the driving conditions. The roads had cleared a lot, but in quieter areas they were a bit hairy! So, we woke up early and were shocked at the view from the window. During the storm, we couldn’t see further than our balcony, so waking up to this view was amazing!

We didn’t really stop much on the journey because we wanted to make sure we didn’t miss our flight. The only stop was made was to take in the scenery, which was beautiful.

By the time we made it to Reykjavik we only had about an hour to see the city. We were pretty hungry so did a quick bit of sightseeing from the car then went for a burger. We definitely want to go back to explore Reykjavik further.

Iceland is a beautiful place and we would love to go back during the summer months to see it from a different perspective. The people are so friendly and laid back, the sights are breathtaking and the changing weather keeps it exciting. Such a brilliant experience!